CONVERSION: THE FALL #1 by ST Campitelli @stcampitelli #TuesdayBookBlog

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter

In a Nutshell: Post-apocalyptic thriller set in Australia

The story begins a couple of years after 'The Fall', when Australia is already divided into warring factions - the well-defended 'wallcoms' - communities in which people can live a life that resembles the 'before', and those who have chosen to live outside the relatively safe walls.  Many of the original wallcoms have now fallen, overrun by the infected, feral beings with white skin.  Once bitten, it's only a matter of time before you become a 'jack'.

Then there is the Headhunter - the standard post-apoc psycho baddie.  A trope that never gets old - every book of this genre needs at least one!

The author concentrates on several main characters, each one of whom tells the story from their POV, always in the third person.  John Bradley is a regular guy who goes out with the scavenging teams, though wife Helen wishes he would choose a safer occupation.  Reading this, though, I couldn't help thinking that I'd want to do what John does, too, instead of hiding behind the walls in an illusion of safety.  The sense of adventure is full-on, with missions described in detail.  Anyone who has fantasies of living in a post-apoc world (that's me with my hand up) will be drawn to this.  

The book is plot- rather than character-driven, which meant that I sometimes had trouble remembering who everyone was, but the dialogue totally works and the writing is such that some characters were still three-dimensional to me: John, his mate Matt, rockers Skylar and Harley (loved them!), and the Headhunter.  I loved the inventive details about the technology, the spectacularly good world-building, and the chapters from the POV of the infected. 

Good stuff, post-apoc lovers.  Book #2 is also available, and I believe Book #3 is in progress.

THE WAY THE LIGHT BENDS by Lorraine Wilson #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

 4 out of 5 stars

Publishing on Amazon on August 2nd
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Love, loss and the supernatural

An interesting and unusual book that centres around two sisters: the unconvential, wildhearted Tamsin who cannot come to terms with the death of her twin brother, Rob, and perfect Freya, the older sibling with the perfect husand and perfect job.  Then, a year after Rob's death, Tamsin disappears without trace, as does her boyfriend, a curious and shadowy figure about whom nobody knows anything much at all.

The book is written in two time frames, and from two points of view - Tamsin tells her story in the first person, gradually letting the reader into the turmoil in her mind, and showing what led up to her disappearance.  Freya's sections are told in the third person - these are good choices, just right for the story.  Freya's account shows her own, deepening turmoil as she grieves for Rob and becomes obsessed with finding Tamsin; she feels increasingly isolated, and begins to question everything about the way her family lives.  

The setting is Scotland; Perth, St Andrews and a couple of other locations. Tamsin and her friends worked in the grounds of old country house, and ran 'forest schools' for children; I loved all the detail about this.  The novel is beautifully written and flows so well.

Any negatives?  Sometimes I felt the descriptive passages were a little long-winded, when I wanted to get on with the story and find out what Tamsin's mysterious boyfriend was all about, and I was underwhelmed by the ending, which I thought a little wishy-washy after the build-up, but I did enjoy reading this book; much of the prose has an almost poetic, ethereal quality to it, reflecting the subject matter, and certainly the author should be proud of it.

UNTIL THE TWELFTH OF NEVER by Bella Stumbo

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I sought it out after watching TV dramatisations.

In a Nutshell: In depth analysis of the Betty Broderick divorce and murder cases.

I've been meaning to read this book for ages; I've had a moderate fascination for the case since seeing the TV movie A Woman Scorned, starring Meredith Baxter as Betty Broderick, and then Season 2 of the Dirty John series on Netflix.  

In case you don't know about it, the Brodericks were an ambitious, affluent San Diego couple; Betty had made a career out of being the supportive wife and mother, and they were very much part of the A List social set in La Jolla, on the idyllic San Diego coastline.  In the 60s and 70s, back east, Betty worked at menial jobs as well as bringing up their children so that Dan could quit his chosen medical profession and go back to college to get a law degree.  Sixteen years on, when all their hard work had paid off, Dan started an affair with his legal assistant and told Betty he wanted a divorce.  Six years later, Betty entered the bedroom of Dan and his new wife and shot them both dead.  This book is, for the most part, about what led up to this event - and whether or not Betty deserves any sympathy at all for robbing her children of both parents (as she has been in prison ever since), and for the grief her actions caused three families.

At the back of the book Ms Stumbo reveals many of her sources; family members worked with her, as well as people who knew all relevant parties well.  I have no doubt that it's an accurate assessment, though it's a long book.  I felt that it could have been chopped down in places; just because every minute detail of a court hearing is known, it need not, necessarily, be included in an account such as this.  I admit to skip-reading some of the minutiae of the court cases. It becomes somewhat repetitive in places, as no detail is spared  Also, it needs a better proofread.

Ms Stumbo talks about whether interviews on TV and in the press were 'pro-Betty' or not, but having read this I don't think there's anything black and white about it.  Yes, Betty was a piece of work and then some, even before the murders, but by all accounts she was treated appallingly by Dan and his girlfriend over the six years - when Dan and Betty were still living together he denied and denied that he was sleeping with Linda, telling her she was going crazy.  He had her jailed for some of her less advisable actions (like driving her car into his house), had her committed for psychiatric treatment, denied her access to her children, and so much more.  Linda insisted on recording the household answerphone message, so Betty had salt rubbed into her wounds every time she rang up to speak to her children.  Betty wanted items from the house such as her wedding china, and Linda wouldn't let her have them.  Etc., etc.

Betty's life was destroyed, whereas Dan's carried on just the same, except that he had replaced Betty with a younger model.  For Betty, it was like Linda had stolen her life, and she was being punished for not slipping meekly into divorced obscurity; at that time and in the circles in which they moved, a single, divorced woman was automatically persona non grata.

Then again, she was impossible to deal with, irrational, foul-mouthed, obsessive... 

This book really is 'no stone unturned', with details about Betty's life in prison, too, and it does give a balanced viewpoint, particularly when concerned with how those poor children were affected.  If you're interested in the case, I recommend!

Betty now, aged 74.

THE FOREVER HOUSE by Linda Acaster @LindaAcaster #TuesdayBookBlog #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member, though I had actually bought it before that - seen on Twitter.

In a Nutshell: A bereaved woman uncovers an age-old mystery in her new house.

Carrie and husband Jason spent their time buying, renovating and selling houses - but this one Carrie wanted to make their 'forever house'.  Alas, Jason died shortly after work began, leaving her in an emotional wasteland, unsure how she felt about anything at all.  Their only son lives in Australia; she Skypes with Dominic and his family, but it's not enough.  Then there is Louise, Jason's magazine-perfect, high-flying sister, who is suffering too ... but she and Carrie are worlds apart.

The plot unfolds when Carrie finds drawings beneath the plaster in one of the bedrooms, that make her want to find out more about the house's owners of possibly a hundred years ago.  Her obsessive interest in them is surely a means of filling the gap in her life, though she doesn't see this.

I did enjoy this book, and read it in just three days.  It's so well-written; for a while at the beginning it moves slowly, with much detail about Carrie's uncovering of the clues to the family long departed, but I was still engrossed.  The story did not develop as I was expecting it to - it turned out to be something completely different to what I thought I was reading.

This is a nicely rounded-out novel with complex relationship dynamics; the character of Louise I found particularly interesting (though her life depressed me!).  I would recommend it to older readers who like to read about a main character of a 'certain age' representative of older women in the 21st century, and who enjoy a decent mystery and solid, absorbing storytelling.

THE MUD MAN by Donna Marie West #RBRT

3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell:  Anthropologist Veronica finds prehistoric man frozen but still alive in a thawing bog.

An interesting book!

What I liked:

• The story idea; it was the blurb that attracted me.  What a great premise!  Wanting to know what would happen kept me reading all the way through.  I thought the gradual, slow way in which the man's recovery was described was very well thought-out.
• The fact that the author made something that sounds crazy unrealistic come across as totally feasible.  I was impressed by this from the beginning.
• The amount of research that has clearly been done, into every aspect of this story, and the way it was woven seamlessly into the text; I never felt as though I was reading Ms West's research notes, as one sometimes does.  Every part of the Mud Man's recovery and development felt authentic.
• The 'easy read' quality of the book; the scientific aspects are explained so that anyone can understand them - and learn something.  I found some of the explanations most interesting.
• The ending: it was fitting, and I'm so glad the author didn't make it schmaltzy.

What I was unsure about:

• The tone of the book, which is a little twee at times and I felt would be more suited to light 'women's fiction' or even a sweet romance.  The writing style didn't seem right for a book about this subject matter; Veronica didn't come across as a respected academic, to me.  
• There was too much mundane detail.  If a character is having a day at home, we don't need to know what she did unless it is plot relevant, or pertinent to her character development.  Lists of information telling us what she ate for breakfast, that she rang her mother, cuddled her 'kitties', then ate such-and-such for lunch, etc., come across as superfluous.  There was too much needless detail about what people ate and drank, throughout.
• Mud Man Dom's way of speaking.  Surely the amount of time he spent with people educating him would have resulted in him able to speak in more than childlike monosyllables, which became monotonous to read after a while.
• How some characters are described as 'African-American'.  It seems odd, if you're not also pointing out every time someone is of Asian or Caucasian origin.
• The way in which Veronica (and others) looked on Dom as subject matter to make her rich and respected in her field, even down to exposing him to the hell of TV and chat shows.  

Having said all that, I did want to keep reading, all the way through, because of the storyline itself.  It's not a bad book at all; I just think it needs a firmer hand!

THE LAST PRINCESS by Shelley Wilson @ShelleyWilson72 #TuesdayBookBlog

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  Disclaimer: I know the author and was excited about reading this book, but this has in no way affected the content of the review; if I had not liked it, I would not have reviewed.

In a Nutshell:  YA historical, Vikings and Saxons.

I'm mad for anything about Vikings and Saxon history, and some of this book is set in an area near where I live, so I was looking forward to it.  From the way Shelley Wilson talked about it on social media as she was researching and writing, I had a feeling it would be good, and it is.

First of all, I am aware that I am decades older than the target market; I would say it's quite young YA, as it would be the sort of book I'd have loved when I was 12 or 13, and if I had a young teenage daughter I would be happy for her to read it.  I tried at all times to read it with this in mind, though it's a cracking story whatever age you are, and I very much enjoyed it.  There is one scene that is a bit more sexually explicit than I expected, but no more so than some books available in children's libraries today.

(I mention reading it with its target market in mind, because some reviews on Goodreads appear to assess it as if it were an adults' book, which must be so frustrating for both author and publisher.)

The Last Princess is loosely based on the 9th century taking of the Northumbrian throne by Aelle, starting with the murder of King Osberht, his brother.  Whether or not Shelley Wilson's Edith, the daughter of Osberht, existed, I don't know; little is definite about that period.  This novel is about her life as a Northumbrian princess, the loss of her family, and the many adventures that took her from a slave ship to Viking battlefields.   It's got the lot: fear,brutality, love, hardship, betrayal, loss - I would actually like to read a longer version for AA (actual adults!), because I  enjoyed it so much.

Edith's growth and change throughout the story is believable, and my favourite character was Jarl Aaric, the Viking leader who becomes an important part of her life.  One aspect about it that I loved was how it didn't talk down to the reader, or try to push forward certain narratives, like so much in YA-orientated fiction (written word and TV) these days.  Ms Wilson has not shied away from the brutality of the time, or given her characters present-day attitudes.  In the 9th Century, people were far more close to death than we are now, and this is reflected.

Any negatives?  Only the occasional use of the word 'gifted' where 'given' or 'gave' would have done just fine; it's an Americanism that should have been pounced on by the editor.  However, apart from wincing each time I read this (and do bear in mind that it's a pet hate of mine - you may not mind it!), I wholeheartedly recommend this book - if you have a teenage daughter, buy it for her now - she will love Edith!

PRIDE'S CHILDREN: Purgatory by Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Kary is a writer with more than her share of emotional baggage.  Andrew is a charismatic leading man, while Hollywood princess Bianca fears that her star might be fading, and hopes to keep it shining alongside the presence of Andrew.

Kary suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and this novel certainly gives the reader an insight into what this debilitating illness involves, and the restrictions it imposes on the life of the sufferer; also, I felt it gave the story an unusual slant.  Kary can't afford, emotionally, to fall in love, but she reckoned without meeting Andrew on a New York talk show - and then the New Hampshire town where she lives is chosen as the venue for Bianca's new film; here the three lives become emotionally entangled.

Ms Ehrhardt has such an entertaining writing style, easy and conversational.  The narrative is presented in alternate points of view of Kary, Andrew and Bianca, enabling the reader to immediately connect with each of them - my favourite structure.  Pride's Children: Purgatory is the first of a trilogy, but is complete in itself.

At times I felt the book could have used a tighter edit, to remove some of the detail that slowed the story down, and just to make the narrative more succinct, but it's still well-written and a jolly good story.